The present disclosure relates to the testing of communication networks. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to techniques for evaluating and troubleshooting of customer premises networks and equipment.
Many media and telecommunication services, such as telephone and cable services, rely on customer premises wired and/or wireless networks to route their services throughout the customer's home or small business site. As the interface between the customer and the service provider's network, these customer premises networks can be a frequent source of customer service issues.
For example, wiring inside homes can be a source of problems. In older homes, copper wire that may be sufficient for phone calls might become degraded to the point that it is not optimal for triple play or even data services. Similarly, coaxial cable can be degraded by the presence of open and short circuits, cable impedance mismatches and bad connectors. Moreover, in many instances the customer premises includes a wireless network. Issues such as interference and other distortions within the premises can lead to wireless connectivity problems and disruptions in service.
In the past, service providers have considered the customer premises networks to be the customer's responsibility. However, due to the rising competition from a wide variety of telecommunication services now available in the marketplace, providers now view the customer premises networks as a potential stumbling block which can mean keeping or losing customers.
In order to attract new customers and retain existing ones, service providers have thus begun to take on the responsibility for delivery of their services across the customer premises networks. However, customer service related expenses associated with the qualification of service delivery throughout the premises, and the troubleshooting of transport and service related issues associated with the customer premises network and equipment, can impose significant costs. In particular, service issues that cannot be resolved over the phone often require a field technician to visit the customer premises, which can be time consuming and expensive.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods that enable efficient evaluation and troubleshooting of customer premises networks and equipment by field technicians or other testers.